pocketful of stars
by keroRiBBIT
Summary: Drabble/ One-shot collection. Chapter 12: Alien in my Closet. He may look calm and collected on the outside, but really he was trying his best not to freak the hell out. "I believe fifty percent of our species also have that elongated appendage between their lower limbs." Good Lord. Contains nudity, read at your own discretion.
1. Chapter 1: What I Love About Her

**Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**

What I Love About Her Series: Her Determination.

He was panting, left hand raised forwards, palm open. His other was poised near his sides; palm also open. With his legs standing apart, he was poised for his standard kata.

Ahead of him Tenten was steadily decreasing the distance between them as she ran towards him at full speed, skin glistening with sweat. She held no weapon in hand, she was to use her bare fists to accomplish her goal.

When she was a few yards away, she dropped to the ground and swiped a spinning kick to his feet but Neji easily saw through it and jumped. Using the momentum from her kick, she immediately spun upright, an elbow poised to meet the side of his jaw. Her sparring partner blocked it with his forearm but Tenten calculated, counted on, that movement and spun quickly again and this time effectively boxed him on the side of his face, rattling him.

The second he was stunned, Tenten tensed her legs and jumped, tackling him to the ground with a hug.

"I did it," she looked down on him, smiling cheekily and panting. Her arms were loosely coiled around his neck and she lay on her stomach on top of him.

Neji felt his chest warm when she rested her head in the crook of his neck, breathlessly laughing. He mirrored the gesture and breathlessly laughed with her, a hand resting lightly on her nape, the other on her back, gently holding her close.

"It took three hours," he said mid-chuckle, "But I guess you did."

("I will hug you Neji Hyuga, else I would give you a hundred kisses or die trying!

Her eyes were set ablaze and Neji grimly nodded his assent, inwardly giving her the most tender of smiles as she pelted him with waves upon waves of projectiles)

oOo

 _ **A/N:**_ _So I just realized I have NINE semi-finished stories in my drive. I'm (half-heartedly) salvaging those that can be salvaged and I'm just gonna post it here. So far, I have two versions of a highschool fic, several rejects from my Perks and Pains supposed-to-be updates and another one of my What I Love About Her Series. Hope you look out for them! Feedback and constructive criticism is highly appreciated. Happy Halloween everyone!_


	2. Chapter 2: Feelings Marathon (Part 1)

**Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**

Chapter 2: Feelings Marathon (Part 1)

Breathe in. Out. Inhale. Exhale.

She could feel her heart pounding. Each thump was a resonating boom to her ears. The afternoon sun was greatly warming her back and sweat was already dripping from her face but she doesn't mind. All she could hear was her heart beating and the sound of her breathing.

Breathe in. Out. Inhale. Exhale. Then as she heard the imaginary fire of a gun, she ran.

She ran and ran and ran. The wind in her face felt amazing. Adrenaline was pumping in her veins as she ran to her heart's content. Thump, thump, thump went her heart synchronized with the thud, thud, thud of her feet as they met the ground. Never before had she felt so free, so invincible to life's problems.

When Tenten ran, she was aware of her everything. She was aware of her eyes as they focused ahead, never wavering from the finish line, aware of what she had to seek, her goal. She was aware of every breath she took, careful not to take in too little nor too much because most of the time the simplest of things would make the difference. She could breathe later, her mind would say. She was aware of the strain in her legs as they go forward one after another in what she hoped to be the speed light.

Deaf she was to the imaginary crowd, for the only sound she could hear was the beating of her own heart. Thump, thump, thump it would always go, telling her to just run, run, RUN. Forget about everything, it would scream to her. Nothing else matters now, just so long as you're free, she could hear it say. Because it was true, running was freedom to her.

For what seemed like forever, she finally came to a stop near her duffel bag at the bleachers. A tired but satisfied smile was plastered on her face as she wiped the sweat that was trickling down her neck with a face towel.

Clap, clap, clap.

Tenten whipped her head around to see who was intruding on her private moment at (what she thought was) the empty field.

A man came down from the bleachers and he seemed to be walking towards her. Tenten frowned, not really wanting company at the moment.

The first thing she noticed about him was that he was quite tall, as though a head taller than her and that he had unbelievably long mane of coffee brown hair.

"That was impressive," he said. His voice was deep and smooth and Tenten was reminded of dark chocolates and red velvet roses. It made her frown further.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

Tenten noticed that his eyes were a pearly white and slightly tinted with lavender and that they widened for a fraction of a nanosecond. He seemed surprised but she did not blame him as she recalled the tone she had asked him with. It didn't matter though, he had quickly regained his cool. Tenten gave him props for that.

He gave a tiny (she could say sheepish but it would be pushing it) smile instead and Tenten had to admit that he was not at all bad looking.

"Neji," he said again with his voice made of dark chocolates and roses. "May I ask for yours?" He asked expectantly.

His looks aside, Tenten regained the frown she had lost a moment ago.

"I'm sorry but I'm not comfortable giving my name to strangers."

He seemed to take it in stride, "That's reasonable." He said with a thoughtful look on his face. "Nonetheless, that was amazing."

Silence fell between them.

The both of them were just awkwardly standing there. Tenten kept her eyes on the ground, trying very hard not to either trace the ground with her feet or run away all together. She stole a glance at him, he had an aristocratic face, with a long nose and chiseled jaw. She might even think he's not just bad looking, she smiled to herself as she returned to looking at the ground. Still, the atmosphere was just awkward.

Seeing as she willed her legs to keep still, she opted to fidgeting her hands instead. Her mind was bringing about ways to excuse herself from this situation, vaguely aware that it was actually her who had made it quite uncomfortable.

"You should look up, the sun set is quite nice."

His voice had broken through her thoughts. Before she knew it, her eyes were locked to the burning sky above.

It was spectacular. The sky was bursting with orange, pink and blue hues. Great cumulus clouds were semi obscuring the round burning sun. Everything looked as if it was painted, immortalised, in a large white canvas with the creative splatter of colours.

"It's beautiful," she murmured in the silence, a small smile forming on her lips as she looked up to the magnificent view. In the countless of times that she had trained on this track, never before had she witnessed such a beautiful sunset.

They were silent again after that but Tenten felt it was different this time. Gone was the awkward atmosphere and in its place was a semblance comfortable silence.

It was a while that they stood there, enjoying the view. It did not last though. Sooner than Tenten would have liked, dusk had settled and the orange sky was enveloped in a midnight blue.

"It was nice meeting you, stranger," the sound made of chocolates and roses broke the silence again.

Tenten was comfortable enough to look at his face. She couldn't help an exasperated smile at the sight of his smirk.

"Wish I could say the same though," she said.

The smirk never left his face. "I think it's about time that we both go home, don't you think?"

Tenten gave a small chuckle as he raised his arm for the 'After you' gesture.

"Sure."

Quietly, they took their time to leave the field. A breeze went by and ruffled some of the hair that came loose from her buns. Tenten unconsciously rubbed her bare arms.

"I'd give you my jacket, but as you can see, I don't have one." He said. It was true, he was wearing nothing more than a simple shirt and jeans.

Tenten waved it off, "It's fine. I have one in my bag." Indeed she has and she was rummaging for it as she spoke. With a beam she raised her hand with the jacket, "See?"

"And so I do," he said. He regarded her with amusement. Tenten paid it no heed as she snuggled on her well worn jacket.

"Do you go here?" He asked as they neared the exit of the school that owned the field.

Tenten's eyebrows went up a notch, "If I didn't tell you my name what makes you think I would tell you the school that I would be staying at in the near future?"

"Really? We're back to being hostile strangers? I actually thought we had a moment back there." He was actually convincing with the affronted look he had on his face and his two hands that clutched the part of his chest where his heart lay underneath. Really, if only there wasn't that smirk clearly itching to break free.

"You need to get over yourself, stranger," she said, trying hard to sound stern and not to burst out in giggles.

"Heh. You're something else." He said with a shake of his head a small smile on his face.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She asked, curiosity piqued.

He eyed her for a moment before diverting his attention forwards again. "Sorry, I feel uncomfortable explaining myself to strangers." There was that smirk again on his face and Tenten didn't know if she was feeling tired or endeared by it.

She rolled her eyes but she felt her lips quirk up a bit, "Touche."

"Hn." He was still smirking. They walked in comfortable silence again. Tenten thought that she was okay with walking like this forever

"I assume this is where we part?"

Tenten was surprised to see that they were out of the school and into the streets. She glanced up at him.

"I guess so, I live in that direction," she said, pointing to her left.

Neji gave a small gasp of surprise. "My, my, stranger. Are you comfortable telling me such personal details such as the direction to where you live?" He said, his tone was mocking and the smirk was back full force on his face.

Tenten couldn't supress the laugh that managed to leave her lips. She didn't notice how Neji stood there, stock still, as he watched her laugh. Her eyes filled with mirth, her heart shaped face crinkled as her mouth opened to release the sound of bells that was her laugh. He stood there mesmerized.

Tenten was wiping tears out of her eyes when her laughter finally died down. "Okay, okay, you got me." She said, a small giggle escaping her mouth.

"Obviously," Neji said, amusement coating his tone once again.

Tenten rolled her eyes again but gave him a dazzling smile that made his stomach do a flip-flop.

"Bye then!" She waved as she started on the direction that she just pointed out.

The smile refused to leave her face as she walked home.

On the other side of the spectrum, Neji was stood there, rooted to the spot. He was staring at the space that the girl who refused to tell her name once stood. For the first time in his teenage years, his heart was thumping as if it just ran a marathon.

Snapping out of his dazed thoughts, Neji ran a hand through his hair trying with all his might to still his erratic heart.

He swiftly turned around and went towards the direction of his own house. He noticed that the stars were particularly bright tonight.

oOo

 _ **A/N:** This was supposed to be a multi-chap fic but I didn't know how to go about it by the time I finished chapter two. It's been sitting in ny drive for like...three, maybe four months now? Gah. Into the fandom you go my unfinished fic! I'll post the second part maybe the day after tomorrow, after I post another drabble. Also! I have another HS fic sitting unfinished. Lol and it features a Dorky! Neji. I'll get to salvaging it sometime next week._

 _Anyways, thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapter!_

 _Feedback and constructive criticisms are welcome. Ciao!_


	3. Chapter 3: Guys Night Out

**Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**

 **Summary:** It's not Lee's fault that he was fast and the others just damn too slow. If anything, they should blame Naruto for not having any playing cards. But alas, Uno is Rock Lee's game.

oOo

Chapter 3: Guys Night Out

There was a pregnant pause. Eyes flitted from one face to another, trying to gauge one another's reaction. Naruto for one was eyeing Shikamaru with all his might and he gave him a bored look in return, not revealing anything.

Kiba felt sweat form on his forehead with all this tension. He glanced at every person in the circular table. Right across from him, Chouji was eating his junk food slowly, one chip at a time. On the right and left of Chouji respectively was Shikamaru, the disinterested look forever etched on his face, and Lee who was giggling to himself. Kiba eyed the bowl-cut boy suspiciously, eyes narrowed. On Lee's left was Neji who glared when he made eye contact with the Inuzuka. Kiba quickly diverted his eyes to safer waters, particularly at the blonde that was beside him, a shaky hand raising a red and black card that had a slanted oval at its back. On his other hand, another card with the same design was clutched closely to his chest.

His trembling hand was hovering over the pile of cards. Sweat started to form on his forehead and he slammed down the card and -

"Uno!"

"Fuck you Lee, fuck you. Damn you to fucking hell."

"That's an unfair thing to say Naruto-kun. It's not my fault you are terribly slow," Lee admonished with a furrow on his fuzzy brows.

"Goddammit," the blonde still muttered even as he picked two cards, cringing even more when he saw its contents.

Without a word, Shino tossed a yellow three on top of Naruto's red card of the same number.

"Uno," the Aburame said in his monotone and everyone gaped at him in shock. Even Lee.

"The hell was that Shino?" Kiba asked, incredulous. "You cheated! You were hiding your cards!"

Shino adjusted his glasses with his middle finger, pushing it farther up the bridge of his nose. "I wasn't hiding them," came his soft voice. "You people weren't just paying attention to me, as per usual."

Everybody else either groaned or were on the verge of doing so.

oOo

 _ **A/N:** Lol Shino. I couldn't resist. Haha. __Here's one of my Perks and Pains reject. I immediately stopped when I started to sound sexist. It's a struggle for me to write stuff like this tbh. If you have any advice regarding stuff like this and how to avoid sounding sexist and stereotypical in general, I'm all ears. Leave it in a review or PM, I'll definitely consider it._

 _On a side note, I've just made a tumblr account of the same name. If you will, you can also check out the stuff I write there and some of my sketches as well._

 _Thank you for all those who reviewed the previous chapter! Again, feedback and constructive criticisms are welcome. :)_


	4. Chapter 4: Feelings Marathon (Part 2)

_**A/N:**_ _Delivered as promised. :)_

 **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**

 **Summary:** All Tenten ever wanted to do was run. Even from her own feelings.

Chapter 4: Feelings Marathon (Part 2)

Tenten's first day back at school wasn't all that bad. Never mind the fact that her lunch, which looks to be Picasso's imitation of her face, seems to be happier than her. Other than having two periods without having any of her close friends with her,

'It's not all that bad,' Tenten thought.

She had plenty of other friends in her grade, though not as close as she was with what she calls her best friends. Tenten shrugged and split with a snap one of her disposable chopsticks into two, thinking, 'I'll live.'

For the lack of any sort of company, Tenten was passing time by idly picking on her food. Try as she might, she could not return the smile that her bento was beaming at her. Fragrant rice made up her face and she had pork dumplings for hair. The smile that was looking up at her was made up of beans. She tried not to grimace with the bits of parsley that was supposed to be her nose and the boiled egg slices dotted with olives that was her eyes. Truly it cannot be mistaken that it was the handiwork of her ever-creative mother.

With a sigh, she finally chewed on a pork dumpling. 'At least it tastes better than it looks.'

"Well that looks appetizing," a sarcastic voice said.

Tenten looked up to see blue eyes and blonde hair.

"Well, it was my only company considering your late ass." Tenten said and smiled as she saw Ino roll her eyes in return.

"I'm sorry, alright? I had to resched my classes," Ino said, taking a seat opposite Tenten.

Inspecting her fingernails she added leadingly, "You know," she looked at Tenten from the corner of her eye, "So I could accommodate my cheering." Ino Yamanaka, as stereotyped by her blonde hair, blue eyes and great physique, was the newly instated captain of the cheering squad, thankfully without the snobby personality.

The brunette sighed and stabbed her rice made face with chopsticks, "For the last time Ino, I'm not joining."

"Well, why won't you?" Ino asked, indignation clear in her face.

Tenten glared at her, "Probably because I already have track and four honors classes jampacked in my schedule?"

"Oh come on. It's not even track season yet and I have honors classes too!" Ino exclaimed.

"You only have two," Tenten mumbled under her breath. Ino had seemed to hear and was about to propose her argument when Tenten's flat voice said, "No."

"What the-" Tenten was surprised when two hands had grasped the hand that clutched her chopsticks.

Ino was looking at her with teary blue eyes and an annoying pout. "Please, please, reconsider Tenten!"

The brunette was trying her best to look away, knowing how she was always vulnerable to the puppy-dog eyes.

She made a mistake of glancing at her friend. Tenten groaned, "Alright, alright." She glared at Ino who whooped with joy. "I'll reconsider," she added scathingly like a wounded animal ready to fight back.

Ino waved her off, "Try-outs are in a week, I have plenty of time to convince you till then."

Tenten could not believe it. She had just given Ino Yamanaka an invitation to pester her for an entire week. She unconsciously whimpered for the future ahead.

"Oh don't be such a cry baby Tenten, it's not that bad."

"Why do you even want me of all people in the squad?" Now that she thought about it, Ino never really told her why it was actually a necessity for her to join as she had been saying so for the last month of summer.

"Other than your awesome gymnastic skills?" She asked with a smile.

Tenten did not move an inch.

"I need someone to balance out the bitches I have for teammates," Ino said, her face darkening and her knuckles turning white as they balled into fists.

Tenten, on the other hand, snorted. "And the truth comes out."

"Anyways," and quicker than light, Ino was back to her cheerful self, "It's very satisfying if you ever did decide to join," she said with a flick of her hair. "Kind of like running, right?" Ino added with a smile.

Running, that was all Tenten ever wanted to do. Now that she was in her last year of high school, she was determined to make the best of it, knowing that when she goes to college, she would never have enough time to do so. At least, not as much as she runs now.

The subject of running carried with it another thing, or person, rather. Neji. In the past two days, what with the partying that comes with the end of summer vacation, it was only now that she had remembered the pearly eyed stranger.

She jumped out of her musings when Ino exclaimed her latest piece of gossip. "We had a new student at homeroom today."

The memory of Neji asking her if she went to the school came alive inside her mind. Tenten felt her heart race. She didn't know if she should feel elated or scared if this stranger really was attending her school.

"A new stu-?" She was cut off by the slamming of a tray on their table.

"What a drag," drawled the new comer.

"Shikamaru! You almost spilled the drinks!" Ino shrieked. Shikamaru Nara was a close friend of hers and a childhood friend of Ino's. It was actually through him that she had met the blonde bombshell. The both of them sat together at an Advanced Algebra class in freshman year.

Shikamaru ignored her and instead greeted Tenten with his lazy salute.

"Hey Shika," Tenten grinned at him and Shikamaru returned it with a grimace as Ino pulled on his ear.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, taking from his tray a dry-looking salad with bits of what Tenten thought to be chicken strips and placed it in front of Ino. "You know," he started, "Just because my girlfriend is not here to slave me around doesn't mean you could."

Ino would have none of it and instead flashed him a cocky smile, "Nonsense, Temari especially approves of me bossing you around." Temari was Shikamaru's girlfriend. She was also part of the previous graduating class. "Something about keeping you awake and stuff."

It doesn't seem to be working because Shikamaru took one good look at his lunch tray and pushed it aside. He crossed his arms at the table and buried his face in it.

"How troublesome."

Ino glared at him for one moment and afterwards just rolled her eyes and began picking on her salad.

Tenten proceeded with her food too. As she munched on a pork dumpling, she couldn't help the thought of the new student and the possibility of him being Neji.

Neji. He really was quite odd. Approaching her was one thing, but that time with the sunset? Tenten never felt so at peace with herself. She was so accustomed to being so full of energy that she never imagined herself standing still and watching the sun set until it was no longer. With a stranger no less.

She wasn't lying when she said that she was uncomfortable talking to strangers, much less spending almost twenty minutes with them in complete silence but...Tenten felt something hit her nose. She stared hard at Ino.

"Did you just throw lettuce at me?"

Ino glared at her, "I was trying to get your attention."

"You could have just called me by name."

"I did. Four times."

"Really?" Tenten gave Ino a bewildered look.

"Yes," Ino said, a little frustrated, "Really." Then she slapped Shikamaru at the back of his head, "Wake up, won't you?" She hissed at him.

When Shikamaru propped up on his seat, rubbing the back of his neck and muttering something about "Troublesome women," Ino turned back to her.

"What were you thinking about anyway?" Ino asked her. "Is it a guy?" She pressed, a cheshire grin blooming on her face.

"What made you think that?" Tenten managed to look incredulous enough that Ino seemed convinced.

Shikamaru groaned from beside Ino, "You woke me up for this?"

"Hey at least you didn't get pelted with lettuce," Tenten remarked

"Tch. Yeah, I got hit on the back of my head instead."

Tenten sniggered.

"Oh ha-ha," Ino rolled her eyes at them and asked Tenten again, "What's up with you then? If you're not day dreaming about a guy?"

"Er," think quick, "I've been wondering about that new student." Well it was actually true. She had thought about Neji being the new student.

Ino beamed at her, "Oh right! I haven't finished talking about that, right?" Tenten nodded vigorously, relieved that Ino bought it.

"Oh you're gonna love her, Tenten! She's cute. She's nice, so adorable! Oh! Oh! And the most peculiarly wonderful lavander eyes. A little too shy for my tastes but I think we can be good friends with her..." Once Ino mentioned the word 'her', Tenten tuned her out. Her, girl, pronoun pertaining to females. She unknowingly gave out a breath of relief. She did not acknowledge why she felt relieved nor did she not notice the weird look Shikamaru gave her as he saw her do the act.

"So what do you think?" Just like that, Tenten was back in the conversation with a smile.

What did Ino say last? Oh! Right. Tenten nodded her head, "I'm okay with letting her seat with us tomorrow."

"Cool, I'll text Sakura and tell her to skip whatever meeting she has tomorrow so she could meet our new friend." Sakura Haruno was another close friend of theirs. She was also notorious for having joined more clubs than she could handle.

Tenten's nose twitched at the thought of Sakura and her many many extra curricular activities.

"Where's she now, anyways?" Shikamaru asked though his tone said he could care less.

"Science geek meeting," Ino said.

Tenten snorted, "Which one?"

"Who cares? They're all the same."

"No, they're not. If you actually pay attention in general science like you do literature, there are various branches of science."

Ino looked at her, her nose scrunched up. "I forgot, you have a science geek club too.

"At least my club has a cool name," Tenten muttered, not denying it. She suddenly straightened up in her seat as she caught sight of unmistakable pink hair a ways behind her two companions. Waving her hands, she said to Ino, "Don't bother texting, she's already here."

"So what held you up?" Tenten asked as Sakura took a sit at the only empty chair opposite Shikamaru.

"Oh, well." Sakura started, brushing some of the baby hair out of her face. "The Youth Union for Chemistry Know-hows club had a meeting. It was about our first program for the school year."

Tenten and Ino sniggered whereas Shikamaru smirked.

Trying (and failing) to keep a cork on her laughter, Ino asked Sakura, "Why did you even join yuck?"

"It's not yuck! It's Y.U.C.K.!" All three of them bursted out laughing.

"Oh piss off," Sakura grumbled under her breath.

When the laughter finally died and everyone had calmed down Sakura asked, "So what did I miss?"

"Right, right. Anyways, we had a new student in trigonometry and she seems alright. I was thinking of asking her to sit with us tomorrow."

Sakura looked deep in thought for a while but she suddenly exclaimed with a snap of her fingers, "Ooh! Does this girl have long black hair?"

"Yeah, yeah! She's the one."

"She sits in front of me in honors history!"

Shikamaru and Tenten looked out of place when their two companions were gushing about how cute and princess-like this new student was.

"We should totally invite her!"

After that, the whole lunch period was dedicated to talking about how their new friend would be like the next day, Sakura eating Shikamaru's untouched lunch tray and Tenten offering the only guy in their group some of her pork dumplings.

oOo

In no time at all, it was already Tenten's last class - Honors Calculus. Having been trained in an early age to be a walking calculator, it was no surprise that Tenten was best at math.

Shikamaru was with her in this class too, she noticed. Like all the classrooms, there were three isles and five rows of two-person desks. The seat beside Shikamaru was empty and Tenten walked towards it.

Like in all of her classes, Tenten kept her eyes open for a 'cute, princess-like girl with long raven hair.' She gave the room a once-over, looking for a person with such qualities. So far, she wasn't having any much luck. In all of her classes there wasn't anyone that fit the description. All she saw were familiar faces.

Tenten stood near her seat beside Shikamaru, her eyes roaming the class one final time. Suddenly, her eyes zeroed on a person at the far back of the classroom. Feeling her heart race a bit, she abruptly sat down with a thud that jolted Shikamaru awake and people near to look at her oddly.

"What's up with you?" Shikamaru asked, eyeing her.

"It's nothing," Tenten said. Carefully, she tried to glance back at the person on the far back. She tore her gaze back to the front when pearly-lavender eyes had caught hers.

"Ah," Shikamaru said in his uncaring way. "That's Hyuga. He's in some of my classes." It was only then that she noticed that Shikamaru had followed her gaze. He was looking at her now though, scrutinizing her. "Do you know him?"

"Not really," she said. She wasn't worried about Shikamaru. He would normally shrug it off and not think too deeply about it. If it were Ino, however, or even Sakura...Tenten would have been pelted with question after question. Not that she would have anything to answer them. She told Shikamaru the truth, she really didn't know him. Only knew his name and that he had an eye for great views.

She was telling the truth.

But why does it feel like she's lying to Shikamaru's face?

"Whatever." Tenten was snapped back to reality.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart. With the arrival of their teacher, Iruka-sensei, Tenten felt that it was easy enough to divert her attention towards the lesson rather than the stranger who had pearls for eyes.

When the dismissal bell rang, Tenten had all intentions to use her track training in being the first one to be out of the classroom.

"Oi, wait for me." Shikamaru had other plans, it seems. Tenten silently groaned to herself. The lazy ass can be as fast as a sloth. He was taking his time in packing his stuff that he didn't even use, seeing as he slept through the whole class. He also failed to acknowledge Tenten's foot tapping the floor with impatience.

Glancing at the far back of the room, Tenten saw Neji move out of his seat and it seemed that he had all intentions of walking towards her.

In her nervousness, Tenten scooped up Shikamaru's pencil case, notebook, textbook and handkerchief and all but dumped them in his messenger bag.

She hurriedly turned around in the direction of the door and was about to make a run for it when, comically, her foot had tangled itself with the sling of Shikamaru's messenger bag and dived face first towards the ground.

"Tenten!" She heard someone, Iruka-sensei maybe, yell. She could really care less. The ground was nearing her face and all she could do was close her eyes and pray. She was already bracing for the impact that would inadvertently loose her a tooth. But it never came.

Tenten opened her eyes and looked down at the arms that encircled her waist in surprise. Her eyes travelled the arms that had saved her from the floor, to his lean shoulders and finally to his face where Tenten was reminded of pineapples.

"Gah!" With a yelp of surprise of having Shikamaru's face so close to hers, Tenten pushed him away with all her might and she had successfully detached herself from him, at the expense of losing both of their balance and simultaneously landing on their rumps with a thud.

"What the hell, Tenten?" Shikamaru said, clearly irked by the prospect of having his bum bruised as he scowled at her.

Tenten was rubbing her own aching backside too, her face flushing. Thank goodness they were the last people to leave the room and with only Iruka-sensei there to laugh (she could hear him disguising it as a coughing fit, when it was clear that he could not hold off his guffaws) at her clumsiness.

A hand was offered in front of her and after that humiliating mmoment, Tenten would not wait for the ground to swallow her whole. She thought it was faster if she just jumped out the window. Muttering curses under her breath, she clutched the hand that was offered to her and allowed it to pull her up on her feet.

"For an impressive athlete, you're quite clumsy," a voice that reminded her of dark chocolates and red velvet said not far from her.

Tenten looked at the owner of the hand that she was still holding and she saw pearls staring back at her. She vaguely heard Shikamaru behind her, muttering something about her being troublesome but chose to ignore it, holy mother of pearls were staring at her.

Tenten gulped and quickly let go of the hand as if she was burnt.

"Th-thanks." She said, her face resembling a tomato, her heart beating erratically. The thump, thump, thump telling her again and again to run, run, run. To the open window. So that she could fall into the open ground that would swallow her whole.

"No problem," he said effortlessly, hands diving into his pockets. "I guess I'll see you around, Miss Tenten." With a tiny smile, Neji left the room.

Tenten stared after him as he disappeared from view.

"Oh don't mind me, Miss Tenten. I feel just dandy here with my ass on the ground."

Tenten glared at Shikamaru's sprawled figure on the floor.

Shikamaru lazily held up his arms. "Don't shoot," he said in his lazy drawl but Tenten knows he's teasing her.

With a roll of her eyes, Tenten gripped one of his raised arms and hoisted him up.

"You know," Shikamaru started whilst rubbing his behind. "You ought to tell me if you had someone else in mind to catch you if you ever fall face first to the ground."

He stretched his back until he heard the satisfying 'CRACK' of his spine going back to place.

"I didn't plan on anyone to catch me!" Tenten shrieked as they left Iruka's room. Their sensei just waved them off, telling Tenten that class was not a place for love triangles despite his laughing/coughing fit the entire time.

"Yeah, that was why my ass was on the floor." Shikamaru said non-committedly but a smirk was still plastered on his face and Tenten felt herself bristle.

"I don't even know him!"

"But he seems to know you, Miss Tenten."

Tenten glared at him, "I don't know if you noticed but I think anyone who has ears had heard Iruka-sensei yell my name during the climax of my performance."

Shikamaru snorted.

Annoyed Tenten rounded up on him, yelling, "This is all your fault!"

"My fault?" Shikamaru asked, amused.

"If you weren't so slow then I wouldn't have packed everything for you! And it was YOUR bag that tripped me!"

"Blame the bag, sure." Shikamaru grumbled under his breath but otherwise said nothing. Recalling his old man's advice, "When encountering a spitting dragon, don't do anything. Just let it pass."

"What was that?" Tenten snapped at him, her eyes murderous.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru said with a sigh. "Nothing."

oOo

 _ **A/N:**_ _And then the second part is done. I had to cut this short because the latter parts were unfinished. I don't know if there would be a continuation for this. I guess it depends. Credits to my sister for YUCK thing. Haha. Thanks sis!_

 _I'm plugging again my tumbl under keroribbit. Just because._

 _Again, thank you to those who reviewed! Feedback and constructive criticism are welcome. :)_


	5. Chapter 5: What I Love About Her

_**A/N:**_ _If you want to see the gif that inspired the series, you could see it under_ _ **tentenhyuga-tonarokuma** in tumblr._ _I highly recommend that you see it, I have it reblogged on my tumblr of the same username here. Like, these stories can't even come close to the fluff you'll witness. Nonetheless, hope you enjoy reading!_

 **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **Summary:** Her eyes were watering and her face was flaming red. He had to commend her efforts but he didn't even see the point in her trying. Besides, she had a gorgeous laugh, even if it was in his own expense.

Chapter 5: What I Love About Her Series: I love her laughter

Neji glared at her, daring her to utter one word.

Tenten, who sat before him, released a sudden gasp of air before choking on her own spit, frantically covering her mouth as she coughed. After a while though, Neji was convinced that she was no longer coughing for real.

"Uwaa," a child no older than four, cried from behind him. "Kawaii!" She squealed.

They were assigned a D-Rank mission. Since Lee was still in the hospital, recovering from the after-effects of his fight with Gaara of the Sand, it was just the two of them. Gai had thought that the both of them were more than enough for this delicate mission.

Initially, Neji thought that they had needed a whole army once he laid eyes on their client's daughter.

A snark had managed to break free from Tenten's tightly sealed lips. For the most parts, Neji had to commend her efforts.

At first, she was uncontrollable, the demon spawn that is. More than that, she was everywhere. On the floor, on the walls, on the stairs, on the bed! Neji had his Byakugan in full force just to keep track of the little demon spawn. Then, Tenten suddenly attained her motherly instincts and it all went downhill from there, for him anyways.

And here he was now, his hair in braids with multiple butterfly clips and beads strung here and there.

Tenten just sat there, trying oh so hard to stifle her laughs and not inflict pain to his already damaged ego. He sighed. He didn't even see her point in trying.

"Go on," he muttered, closing his eyes, praying for patience.

It was light, airy and full of mirth. It was so carefree that Neji opened his eyes to see his teammate chortling, laughing at his expense. Tears were leaking from the corners of her eyes and she tried to wipe them away with a hand, the other was clutching her stomach as she tried not to fall on her back.

He was mesmerized.

(He was snapped back to reality though, when the demon spawn had 'accidentally' pulled on his hair.)

oOo

 _ **A/N:**_ _Because you can never have enough fluff in this fandom. Feedback is very much appreciated!_


	6. Chapter 6: The Royals (Part 1)

**Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**

 **Summary:** A love story seems impossible for handsome King Dork-a-lots Neji and lovely Denial Queen Tenten.

Chapter 6: The Royals

Despite the late hour, Tenten didn't find the playground scary at all. Just a tiny bit lonely.

Tenten swung herself lightly on the swing and sighed. Staring up at the stars twinkling merrily, she felt that they were mocking her.

Her boyfriend just broke up with her. There wasn't the surge of anger and fury she thought that would consume her, no. Instead, she just felt empty, like a void suddenly appeared in her chest. Numb, she felt numb.

He wasn't even all that great Tenten thought to herself, and it was true. He wasn't anything special. Their relationship only lasted a laughable two months. She's not even in love with him for goodness' sake.

"It's not working out, I think we should break up," he said, staring hard at the ground instead of at her.

"Oh," she managed, tone flat. "Okay," without another word, she turned around and walked away.

There, simple as that. No tears, no screams, nothing at all. Just an "Okay." Because surprisingly, it was; she was okay with it. That did not explain the empty feeling in her chest though.

After two months of a not-so-bad relationship, she was single again. 'What's new,' she thought but instantly shook her head.

"I'm being stupid," she muttered aloud and sighed. "No use moping about it." Because she's not the type to dwell on such things and honestly, it's not really worth it.

Without further ado, she resolved to leave every thought about her now ex-boyfriend at the playground and trudge her way back home.

oOo

It seems like her friends had other ideas however.

A week later, they were still coddling over her like she was this pathetic miserable puppy looking for shelter.

"Oh Tenten dear, when I see that bastard's face I swear I'll wring he's little neck. Just for you," cooed Ino at lunch, eight days after the breakup.

I-ino!" Hinata managed to gasp out, aghast.

"Oh don't 'Ino!' me, that asshole freaking deserves it," the blonde snapped, vein throbbing.

Hinata looked like she wanted to scold the blonde for her coarse language but wisely kept her mouth shut when Ino looked as if steam would come out of her ears anytime now.

"Damn right he does!" Exclaimed Sakura while simultaneously slamming a fist at their table.

Nearby patrons of the crowded cafeteria looked at them oddly but the girls did not notice. After a while, their unwanted audience just ignored them. Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno are known for being hot headed (and loud) after all.

"Just say the word Tenten," Sakura started, eyes already blazing, "Just say the word and I will wipe the floor with that son of a bitch."

Hinata paled at their colorful language. Tenten on her part was content with munching on her bento.

"I-isn't that a bit too much?"

"NO!" Exclaimed the two hot heads at the same time, making Hinata shrink all the more inside her large jacket.

Grudgingly, Tenten placed her chopsticks down, she really should intervene. She can't have the two terrorizing poor Hinata with their death threats.

"Thanks for the support guys, but I don't really give a shit about him at all." Tenten shrugged and returned to her scrumptious bento.

"Well it should!" Ino snapped, glaring at her.

"Tenten! It's barely been a week since your break up and already he's sucking face with a skank." Sakura said, glancing distastefully at a couple not far from them eating each other's faces.

"Ew, don't make me look," was all she said, before stuffing herself with a whole mouthful of dumplings.

"But Tenten," whined Ino, "Doesn't it bother you?"

"The insensitive jackass is doing it in plain sight without regards that he just broke up with you!" Sakura's voice rose an octave higher.

"Should it? Bother me that is."

The two were gobsmacked. Hinata began fidgeting with her fingers.

"Look," she said sharply, "He's a pig and there's nothing I can do about it. And all of you should believe me when I say that I don't really give a rat's ass about him and whatever he does." Afterwards she stood up and left the cafeteria.

"She forgot her bento," murmured Hinata, glancing at the half-finished food container.

oOo

'Shit, I forgot my bento. Mom's gonna kill me.' Tenten suddenly remembered when she opened the door to her Physiology and Anatomy class, fifteen minutes early. Other than the various preserved mammals, amphibians and reptiles in formaline filled jars and Sakamoto the human skeleton, the lab was otherwise deserted.

Gingerly, Tenten walked towards one of the long tables near the window and took her seat. She fished her phone out of her pockets and quickly sent a message to her friends, asking if it would be alright to have one them keep her bento for a while and she'll just probably get it after school.

Tapping the 'Send' button, Tenten relaxed on her stool (or as relaxed as you can get while sitting on a tall, rickety, three-legged chair) and opted to idly scroll through her news feed for anything remotely interesting.

After a few minutes, she vaguely heard the door open but it was drowned out by the disgust she felt when her phone displayed 'Kiba Inuzuka is in a relationship with Ami Suriyama.' She began to ponder just what the hell she saw in that guy when right now he was dating someone as easy as Ami Suriyama.

"Ugh, what a pig." She found herself uttering out loud.

"Excuse me?" A baritone said from beside her.

She looked up to see pale lavender eyes and a smirk. Tenten's mouth quirked up a bit.

She offered him a smile, "Hey Neji."

He nodded to her in return.

"So who did what now?" He asked lightly, a small smile on his lips.

Tenten felt herself chuckling. She placed her phone back on her pocket now that she had her lab partner for company.

"The usual it seems," she started. "My friends are bugging me about Kiba."

"Ah," he said whilst preparing already for the class despite it being still a good ten minutes away. "What's their problem with you again?"

Tenten sighed and recalled the events of her lunch period.

"Why aren't you bothered?" He asked in his low baritone, his focus now entirely at her. She doesn't seem to mind.

"I dunno," she started, thinking about it. "Maybe 'cause I never had feelings for him in the first place. We weren't even that serious."

"Why even date him then?"

"Well," Tenten hesitated. Why did she go out with him in the first place? "Dunno. I thought he was cool, I guess." Even after she said it, there was no conviction in her words.

Neji gave her a pointed look to which she bumped him with her shoulder and chuckled when he fake nursed his arm. They were now shoulder to shoulder, their elbows on the table.

"I guess...I guess I thought I need company that's not filled with estrogen. Don't laugh," Tenten glared when she saw his lips quirk. He settled for a smirk instead. A smile was also threatening to form on her lips too but she held it at bay.

"Never thought you were such a girl," he said, smirk still in place. She punched him on the shoulder not so gently and the way he nursed his arm looked more genuine now.

"Shut up, do you want to hear it or not?"

Neji surrendered his hands up, face blank and gave her the go.

Tenten rolled her eyes at him but continued anyways. "I don't really have a prominent male figure in my life, y'know? I never met my dad and I don't have close friends of the male kind." She looked at him from the corner of her eye, cautious. He doesn't seem to be appalled yet. "It's always just me and my mom at home and then here at school it's the girls."

Tenten nervously chewed on her lip for a moment. She was letting her vulnerabilities show. Looking down on her clasped hands she continued quietly, "I guess I thought having a boyfriend would fill the gap."

She shook her head, dispersing the gloom in her head. "Anyways, I think I've had enough male company to last till the end of high school."

"I am seriously considering, whether or not, you believe me as a transvestite because it looks like you don't see me as male," he said, a sardonic look on his face.

Tenten laughed a little behind her hand and looked at him sideways. "Oh come on Neji, you don't count."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Last time I checked, I'm a hundred percent male."

"I mean," Tenten glared at him jokingly and gave him a smile, "We barely hangout when not in class and we're not exactly close, y'know."

Said aloud, Tenten found truth to her words. It wasn't that there was anything preventing them from hanging out outside the classroom setting, it was just a matter of convenience. He has his own group of friends, she has hers. It hasn't come up that they should go out of their way to set a time and place to just hang out.

Neji seemed to think otherwise, "Yet here you are talking about your woes to some supposed stranger."

"Strangers is stretching it," she replied.

"You wound me still, dear. Does our being lab partners since Biology I not count at all?" He asked, looking at her completely, expectant.

They were locked in a staredown and Tenten was first to look away.

"Point taken," she grumbled under her breath.

Neji smirked at her, "And as for not hanging out after class, I believe that will change soon."

She tilted her head at him and raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

Noticing their teacher and the others filing inside the classroom, Tenten started to prepare for class, retrieving her notebooks and pens as well as her lab coat.

Neji answered in the process of putting his own lab coat over his uniform, "Uchiha said that there'll be a partner project in P&A. Sensei will be handing out preserved frogs and we're to identify muscles with their I-O-A* by pinning them down and numbering it."

Tenten stared at him dumbly, "So basically we're given a frog for a pin cushion."

"Basically. Seems easy enough for you."

"Ugh."

Surprisingly, they hung out a lot after that.

The frog pin cushion thing was disastrous by the way, they had many trial and errors with pointing the different musculature. It was bad enough that Tenten was almost tempted to catch a new toad to replace their battered one. Thankfully, with Neji's genius and Tenten's skilled hands, they managed a 1.75, which was a good low 90 when compared with the transmutation table and that's good enough for her (Not so much for him, regardless, Tenten was happy).

After that they were playing tennis on Sunday mornings. It was almost coincidence when Tenten found out about his fondness for the sport.

They were at his room, it was their second attempt at tracing the frog muscles' origins and labelling them correctly this time, when Tenten saw weirdly-shaped bag sticking out of one of his closets.

Curious, Tenten padded to where the case lay sandwiched by the door. It was a tennis racket.

"You play tennis?" She asked suddenly, clearly taken aback.

Without even lifting his nose from the formaline-smelling frog, Neji answered "Yeah, I usually play with some of my cousins during weekends."

"Cool!" Tenten's eyes glittered, "I play too. Wanna have a go sometime? I would love to hit you with a tennis ball," she said cheekily as she made her way back towards him and the frog.

Neji almost snorted but stopped himself from creating the undignified noise, to which Tenten rolled her eyes at him.

Instead he answered, "I'd like to see you try but before that, you have a frog to pin."

Tenten sighed but soon enough, they scheduled the upcoming Sunday to play some rounds. (It became the ultimate game of her life. With her uncanny accuracy and his almost unbreakable defense, they were quite evenly matched. She would never in a million years admit to anyone that she was the one who lost though, she didn't forget his gloating face when they ate afterwards.)

But then, tennis became group studies, group studies were brought to the movies, and movies came to practically singing herself hoarse one time at the Karaoke bar.

All in all, for the past three months, Tenten felt nothing but bliss. Not even the sight of her ex-boyfriend sucking face with a different girl every other week could wipe the smile that was stitched on her face. All was fine with the world.

Unknown to her, her friends found it absolutely odd. They decided to corner her one night, in a cliche sleepover at Hinata's place. They were just waiting for the opportunity to pounce on their blissfully ignorant prey.

The opportunity had presented itself when they ran out of drinks and Tenten volunteered herself to getting their refreshments from the kitchen.

Unsurprisingly, she had bumped into Neji, who lived under his uncle's custody, on her way back to Hinata's room. It looked as if he was just about to enter his own room when she arrived at the top of the staircase.

"Hey," he said in greeting.

"Hey," Tenten replied in kind. When she saw him eye the cans of soda in her arms with a critical eye, she said simply, "We ran out of drinks."

"I could see that," he said, his nose wrinkled, "Haven't you girls heard of water? Maybe tea? Anything that's healthier than that."

Tenten rolled her eyes, "It's a sleepover Neji. No one likes boring drinks in a sleepover. If I had my way we'd have bottles of Corona here." She smiled at him cheekily as he glared at her.

"You don't even drink," he said.

Tenten shrugged her shoulders and stepped sideways around him to Hinata's room. "There's always a first time for everything."

"Preferably not in a place that would get me into trouble."

"We never told you to babysit us."

"No, but Uncle did and seeing as he owns the place, I think it would be wiser to follow his orders instead of yours," Neji smirked when Tenten, for lack of anything better to say, just blew him a raspberry as a retort.

"Try not to be too noisy," he smirked at her again and Tenten felt her cheeks heat up at the intense look he gave her.

"Good night," he said in a low voice, smirk softening to a tiny smile. He didn't wait for an answer though, and cooly, he entered his room - only to stub his toe at the door frame.

Neji cursed under his breath, making Tenten giggle at the sight of him wiggling his toe to ease the pain.

Still giggling, "Don't hurt yourself," she teased. She could faintly see a tinge of pink on his cheeks and her mirth had died down into a lopsided smile.

"You okay?" She asked, her cheeks hurting from smiling too wide but she couldn't force her facial muscles to relax when Hyuga Neji was trying to hide his embarrassment.

With a roll of his eyes, he tried to play it cool and shrugged but try as he might, the redness in his cheeks would not leave and Tenten couldn't help but giggle again.

Feeling, more than seeing, the glare directed at her, Tenten calmed down her laughter into mere chortles, "Okay, okay," she said, straining to keep the cans of soda in her arms and not on the ground.

Her lips quirk up into another of her grins as she looked at her usually serious lab partner, evading her eyes with a blush.

With a small giggle, she relieved him of his humiliation and said, "Goodnight Neji."

With a smile, she turned around and headed for Hinata's room. Before she could touch the handle though, she heard him whisper, "Sweet dreams," but when she aimed a look at him, his door was already shut with a click. Nonetheless, there was a warmth that settled on her stomach.

Tenten shook her head and entered Hinata's room. She was greeted by the predatory smiles of Ino and Sakura, as well as Hinata's overly glad one.

"So," Ino started, checking her nails and feigning nonchalance as Tenten made her way towards them, lowering the drinks on the floor and sitting herself near Hinata, completing their circle.

"Hm?" Tenten asked, ignorant of the look that was passed by the other three as she distributed the drinks.

"You know," Sakura led on, a cheshire smile blooming on her face. "What's going on between you and Neji-san?"

The gossip-hungry trio unconsciously leaned in anticipation.

"What do you mean?"

The three of them almost fell on their faces.

Tenten honestly has no idea what they were talking about at all.

Ino was the first to get over the shock. "She means, what is up with you and Neji-san?"

"Yeah and that makes much more sense by the way," she said, looking at them oddly.

"You know," Sakura tried again, a coy smile on her face.

"No. I don't."

"Oh for goodness' sake," Tenten was surprised to find that Hinata was the first one to break. "Are you dating my cousin or not?" She said, a fierce gleam in her eyes and almost crushing her cola with her white-knuckled grip.

To say that Tenten was flabbergasted would be an understatement. If she were drinking from her own can of cola, she would have sputtered it all out in surprise.

"M-me? And Neji?" It was clear that she was blown away by their assumptions. The thought of them together was never conceived, ever, in her mind. Neji was, and always had been, the dork she had for a lab partner (no matter what the rest of the teenage girl population would say otherwise). "Whatever made you think such a thing?"

The other three were gobsmacked once again.

"B-but for the past three months, y-you've been hanging out a lot!" Sakura sputtered.

"We thought you were dating!" Ino all but wailed. "You guys went to the Karaoke bar, alone, for Pete's sake!"

"That was one time and what're we gonna do in the K-bar anyways? Not sing?"

The louder two gaped like fish out of water and Hinata had deflated into her oversized silk shirt.

"So you're not dating?" The raven haired girl asked, a small frown and down cast eyes marred her face.

"No," Tenten said pointedly.

"Have you ever considered dating him, like, at all?" Ino tried again.

Thinking back to the three years they've been lab partners, she answered with a shake of her head, "No."

"Do you think he's hot? At least tell me you think Hyuga Neji is hot?" Sakura pressed, clutching a pillow in her vice-like grip as she waited with baited breath for Tenten's answer.

The girl in question however, bubbled up in laughter, crushing all hopes of her friends.

"H-hot? Neji?" Tenten laughed some more, the image of him just stubbing his toe and being red in the face mere moments ago tickled her stomach.

"But he's such a dork!" Tenten giggled again.

The trio slumped their shoulders and sighed in defeat.

oOo

 _ **A/N:**_ _So the second chapter turned too much of a cliche for me that it just looked like word vomit. Err. I don't think the second chapter is salvageable. But uh, here you go?_

 _I-O-A meaning Insertion, Origin, and Action. I remember that frogs are usually the anatomy starter pack in high school? Lol no. I don't know. I just knew this from a Zoology course I took back in freshman college. Don't listen to my blabber._

 _Feedback is appreciated! And if you have any suggestions for this fic (or the prompt-like summary) then go ahead. I am honestly considering rehashing a different version and creating an entirely separate story but with the same concept (Given I have enough foundation for a sound plot). Thank you for reading!_


	7. Chapter 7: The Royals (Part 2)

**Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**

 **Summary:** A love story seems impossible for handsome King Dork-a-lots Neji and lovely Denial Queen Tenten.

Chapter 7: The Royals (Part Two)

Other than the bizarre conversation, the sleepover went by like always with the usual pig out, video games, gossip and sugar rush. All talk about Tenten's love life were extinguished from her friends' thoughts.

It did not leave her mind though.

When the actual sleeping phase of the sleepover finally overcame the others, Tenten lay awake, restless in her sleeping bag. She didn't dare close her eyes. The first time she did, the image of Neji and her sprung out of nowhere leaving her frozen in place, eyes wide open.

Afterwards, her mind continued to conjure up more and more pictures, incidents and moments of them together that never happened.

'Will never happen,' Tenten would always remind herself.

She was stubborn to a fault and she would not let what the others said get through to her. Easier said than done however.

The weekend was, to put it bluntly, a nightmare. She had scheduled beforehand a tennis match with Neji the morning following the sleepover and her sleep deprived state (and the cause of it) led her to play one of the worst games of her life. The Hyuga had shook his head and, begrudgingly, ended the session earlier than expected and took her home with a disappointed air about him that made her just want to bury herself six-feet under.

Her Sunday night was spent cramming everything for the next day, all because her mind could only think about Neji and her holding hands, Neji and her cuddling on the sofa, Neji and her flying a kite, Neji and her watching birds by day and pointing constellations at night, and just NejiNejiNejiNeji _and oh my god, can her brain stop fantasizing about a relationship that doesn't even exist?_

Tenten groaned from her study table, the glare of the desk lamp unable to keep her focus on her work book. With a last sigh, she snapped her book shut and turned off the lamp; she would just have to ask the girls to help her with the last two equations tomorrow, maybe they could be of assistance.

oOo

'Those bitches,' she thought murderously. Tenten stabbed one of her maki-made eyes and ferociously dunked it in its sauce, making the dark liquid spill some of its contents in the surrounding area. She had just received three consecutive texts coincidentally saying that the girls had club activities and studying to do and they were "so so sorry but they couldn't make it to lunch today."

Beside her new bento (because she forgot to ask the girls for her old one and it was easier to just buy a cheap identical one with her mom none the wiser), was her opened workbook and the two unanswered equations staring back at her.

She was contemplating just copying off of one of her classmates when someone coughed from above and suddenly a bag was dumped on the chair in front of her and a familiar bento found its way on her table.

"Whose eye is that supposed to be?"

Tenten was prepared to glare to death the person who not only stole her bento but also insulted her mom's cooking and in extension, her appearance (because that's supposed to be her eye she just stabbed, dammit).

She snapped her eyes up and glared only to choke on her own saliva. Neji simply raised an eyebrow at her coughing fit and sat down.

When finally her coughing died down and she was massaging her throat, she asked what the hell was he doing here, because dammit she had to finish her math homework and she can't do that with NejiNejiNejiNeji sitting in front of her and eat her neurons for lunch.

Infuriatingly, Neji just shrugged and opened his (her!) bento. "You look like you were contemplating suicide and my good conscience wouldn't allow me to make you go through with it."

Tenten narrowed her eyes at him and was about to say that no, she did not look like death, when a phone was shoved under her nose. On the screen was a picture of her. Her hand was clutching her chopsticks in a vice and her head was slightly bowed down, shadows obstructing her face. Her back was hunched and her buns were droopy from the way she hastily tied them up this morning. She did look depressed by body language alone, that did not stop her from glaring at him though.

"Should I be concerned that your stabbing what looks to be your already mutilated face?"

"Shut up, Neji," but nonetheless, she relaxed the grip on her utensils and calmly ate her maki.

Making her unwanted companion cringe, Tenten purposefully asked with her mouth full, "But 'eally, what're you doing 'ere?"

Slightly disgusted, Neji opted to open his own bento instead while answering, "You could use a lunch buddy."

Tenten tilted her head in confusion, mouth still full and stared at him, perplexed. Really, because she could use a lunch buddy? Seriously? Weird but...how sweet.

With all the attention, heat made its way to the tips of his ears, making Tenten smile slightly but chose not to say anything about it.

When she chewed on the maki-rolls though, she could not remove the small smile that graced her lips when she aimed a discrete look at his face.

His ears were back to its usual color and he was silently eating his sushi rice (she had yet to ask about the bento). Small tendrils of hair made its way to his smooth forehead. Pearl-like eyes were downcast and focused on the food. Her eyes traced his high cheekbones, his long nose and his aristocratic jaw, making her way to his moist lips. They were thin and a light shade of pink, when they opened, Tenten caught sight of a darker pink tongue. His mouth looked delectable.

Suddenly shocked by the turn of her thoughts, she made the mistake of averting her eyes from his lips to his pearl-like eyes that were staring right back at her.

Flustered at being caught staring, she grabbed the nearest bottle of water and took large gulps. From the corner of her eye, all the while still drinking, once again she saw Neji's ears turn a shade of pink.

"I think that's my bottle," he mumbled before stuffing his face with rice, if only to avoid her wide-eyed stare.

Slowly, calmly, Tenten gently put down his bottle of water and slid it as such that it lay a mere centimeter from his bento.

Swallowing inaudibly, she wiped her mouth with a tissue that came with her chopsticks and wetted her lips.

"Sorry," she muttered, bangs obstructing her eyes and the tops of her flaming cheeks. Because all she could think about his lips touching hers in an indirect kiss and her head is becoming fuzzy.

'But it's only Neji,' her mind reasoned, for the sake of controling the heat on her face. Because it's only Neji and she shouldn't be flustered about her dork of a lab partner.

"So how was your weekend?" He asked once the tension dissipated.

Tenten cradled her forehead with a groan, remembering her unfinished equations. "Terrible. I had to cram everything and I didn't get to finish my math homework."

Neji raised an eyebrow at her and -Tenten could sense the tiniest bit of hesitancy - threaded his arms at the table like a businessman would when offering a deal, "How about I help you?"

Immediately, she narrowed her eyes, suspicious already.

"What's in it for me?" She asked, ever cautious.

Neji just shrugged and ducked his head, chopsticks fiddling with his food.

Upon closer inspection, Tenten could see the redness return on his face. He was murmuring something that Tenten had to strain her ears to comprehend.

"A date," she hear him say and her mouth grew ajar the same time he aimed a look at her (what she guessed) equally red face.

"T-that is, i-if you want to-" he was stuttering that Tenten found it so adorable that she didn't know what to say.

"You know what, never mind. It's silly, I should never asked in the first place but if you want, I could still-"

"I'd like that," Tenten felt her lips form words in their own accord. When the gravity of her words registered itself in her brain, a heat, more intense than ever before, travelled up her face in a blink of an eye and she found herself stuttering as well.

"I-if the offer is s-still there, of-of course. If not, th-then I guess-"

"W-what no! I-I mean, of course it's still up. So uh Saturday?"

"Oh wow, Saturday? Saturday. Saturday sounds good."

.

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.

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 _ **A/N:**_ _These dorks are so cute. This is the last installment of the Royals series. I'll whip something up if I get inspired. Until then, toodaloo!_

 _Reviews and criticisms are appreciated!_


	8. Chapter 8: What I Love About Her

_A/N: If you want to see the gif set that inspired the series, you can see it under_ _ **tentenhyuga-tonarokuma**_ _in tumblr._

 **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**

 _What I Love About Her: How cute her blush is._

"Stop being so annoying, Neji." Tenten snapped, turning her back towards him and covering her face with her hands.

Neji, taken aback by the unusual reaction, gave a husky chuckle as he once again closed the distance between them.

"I'm annoying?" He asked, a slight tilt on his lips as he poked her again on her side.

"Eep," she squeaked and jumped three feet away from him. "Would you stop. That fucking hurts," she hissed at him whilst rubbing the lower part of her rib cage.

"I didn't know you were particularly ticklish, Tenten." He teased her with a smirk.

Baited almost too easily, she growled at him, indignant, "I am not! You're gentle fisting me, it hurts like hell."

He snorted and made his way towards her again, making her stiffen mirror his steps backwards. "Gentle fisting, sure." He said, effectively backing her into the tree with no way out.

"Hey, hey! Keep your hands away from me, you ass!" She yelled as they came crawling up her sides.

"I said stop it!" She screeched. Her hands grabbed his, her fingers entwined with his and pushing him back.

The Hyuga merely chuckled again and used his weight to propel her back to the tree, hands still clasped together. He leaned in and moved to whisper in her ear, "How about no?"

Almost immediately, her body became lax and he took that as a sign of surrender. Pleased with himself, he straightened and looked down at her and his stomach made a flop.

Now, he expected her to snarl at him. Expected a frown, a scowl, hell, even a scream of frustration and a volley of kunai. Not...not _this_.

Their entwined hands were resting at the space above her shoulders, mere inches separated their faces so there was no mistaking that frighteningly red flush that covered her face.

He blushed at the sight of her blush. It made her unbelievably cute.

He never knew her eyes to be so big. They were staring at him, big and bright and doe-like. But wait. Something is moving a bit further down on her face.

A flash of pink caught his eyes and he couldn't help but _stare_. The pink appendage traced her lower lip, wetting it, making it glisten.

He felt her exhale, felt her breath on his neck. A chill was threatening to run down his spine, he can't take much more of this. He gulped, his adam's apple bobbing and he saw her follow the movement with her eyes.

In the next moment, he was leaning in. His eyes were becoming half-lidded and he could feel her breath on his mouth and just a little _more_...

"Good afternoon my youthful teammates! Gai-sensei is asking for our most glorious presence in front of Hokage Tower!"

Lee burst into the clearing only to see his team in the most peculiar of positions.

Neji for one was in all fours on the ground. Or in all threes rather, one hand was covering the lower half of his face and he looked to be panting.

Tenten, on the other hand was plastered on the tree behind her, wide-eyed, flushing and panting as well.

"Team, the youthfulness to which you take your training is astounding!" Lee exclaimed as they walked the trek to the Hokage Tower, completely unaware of the tension between his two teammates and how he was so unusually (and conveniently) placed in between them.

 _End_

 _ **A/N:**_ _I've done this trope (getting caught in the act) one too many times. It'll proably be the last time I write the trope. Hehe. Tell me what you think though!_


	9. Chapter 9: The Aversive Stimulus

_**A/n:** I posted this earlier this week on tumblr and I thought I'd share this here. It's somewhat(?) different from what I usually write. Also, I'm trying out a new style so yeah, you be the judge. :)_

 **The Aversive Stimulus**

She fished for the click pen she always kept inside her bag, all the while ignoring his raised eyebrows and his little smirk that showed just how _interesting_ he thought the whole thing was.

In a matter of seconds, she had the pen in hand, pressed the top so that the ball point shot out of the tip with a decisive _click_.

Amused, Neji shifted ever closer to her on the bar stool where she sat. Their shoulders brushed and she gave him a pointed look, strategically moving her body _away_ from him and instead, she directly faced him and his leaning form.

He smirked at her and she rolled her eyes at him, reaching for an unused napkin and placing it between them on the bar's counter top.

Pen in hand, she drew something on the unused tissue.

"See this?" She said, looking up from her work and eyeing him for his -minimal- reaction.

"Is it not a circle?" He asked, sarcasm dripping off his tongue and arrogance in the tilt of his chin. She refrained the urge to release a sharp breath and instead turned again to her make-shift paper.

"That," she looked at him pointedly, "is my bubble," she said. Without looking at him, she drew another circle, the sides overlapping the first circle, making a nearly perfect Venn Diagram.

"That's your bubble," her eyes found his and she was surprised with how close they were, leaning over the small piece of paper.

"And I take it that this moderately sized oval in the middle is where our common interests lie?" He said, placing an arm on the counter, his hand landing mere centimeters from her own. She refused to budge. Nonetheless, a short laugh came out of her mouth and she rolled her eyes again.

"Very funny," she said. She had the pen touch paper and proceeded to shade out the area where their supposed 'common interests' lay.

With another decisive _click_ , the pen was closed and kept inside her bag.

"Okay, recap."

She gestured towards the first circle, "My bubble."

Pointing at the second circle, "Your bubble," she said.

"Hn."

She ignored his smirk and instead, tapped the shaded area with the tip of a manicured nail.

"And this here," she gave him a sickeningly sweet smile, "is the black hole you'd get sucked into if you ever traverse past my bubble."

She would later deny the chill that came down her spine when she heard the baritone of his laughter. Deep, low, and velvety. Delicious. It made a warmth settle on her abdomen and she almost regretted turning him down.

Well, _almost_.

"Are you serious?" He asked, his face composed and she would've thought she had imagine the moment prior if not for the sly mischief that's unconcealable in his eyes.

"Quite," she said, voice even but her expression was haughty as she regarded him with a raised eyebrow, challenging him.

He smirked at her in return and her gaze was anchored to his lips where his tongue traced the flesh, making it glisten.

He reached for her hand on the table, placing his hand on top of hers.

She looked him in the eye and stared _hard_.

 _ **A/n:** Haha. So tell me your thoughts! Continue or nah?_


	10. Chapter 10: The Compromise

**Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**

 **The Compromise**

 _I told myself that I wasn't going to fall in love._

 _At least not yet. Rather, not again. Not with the one that made me fall the hardest._

 _It was amusing to say the least, when I met you again. You were a zombie in my mind. It's like you rose from the dead, which was quite ironic because…Well. I was the one who ran you down and almost killed you._

oOo

The clock located in his car's dashboard said 1:15 am. There was no noise inside the said car. All you can hear was the hum of the engine, the occasional clinks of metal from his keychain and the steady pour outside. The dimly lit streets were mostly empty, save for one or two trucks and cars speeding down, rushing to their destinations. Neji Hyuga was one of them. He couldn't wait to get back to the confines of his lovely apartment, one that housed a most glorious, most welcoming king-sized bed and just damn sleep. In all actuality, he could nod off right then and there. And he did.

He couldn't take it anymore. His eyes were drooping. He could feel his lids closing, his thick lashes there, almost touching his cheeks. A yawn escaped his lips, a month of late nights and early mornings finally taking its toll on him.

He was unconsciously stepping on the gas hence, speeding up the car. The upcoming red light fifteen yards away never occurred to him…until he felt something collide against the hood of his car. That something looked like a person. His eyes widened. _He just ran over a person._ A living, breathing human being. He just prayed to God that whoever he or she is was still actually living and breathing. And with that, sleep left him just as easily.

' _Crap,'_ was the only clear thing his genius mind can make at the moment.

He all but bolted out of the door, onto the pouring rain and kneeled in front of the person who just experienced firsthand, the hard exterior of his Lamborghini.

The person, she appeared to be a woman, was sprawled out on the muddy ground (thankfully not under the car so technically speaking, he didn't actually ran _over_ her). Checking her breathing Neji placed his hand lightly across the woman's forehead and tilted her head backwards gently. He lifted up her chin with two fingers and placed his cheek in front of her mouth.

She was alive.

Neji let out a short sigh of relief. Quickly pulling out his phone to dial the emergency services, a strangled noise escaped his lips.

No signal.

Calming his sleep deprived buzzing mind, Neji resolved to bring her to the nearest hospital himself.

Not wanting to aggravate the injuries she might have sustained whilst carrying said person into the car, Neji let his opal eyes roam over the petite form. Her leg was bent in an awkward angle underneath her jeans. There were cuts and bruises that marred her arms, in his peripheral vision he saw an open umbrella going away with the wind at a constant speed. Her head was bleeding. It wasn't gushing so it seemed more like a graze when her head met the soft [thank Kami] muddy ground. Neji was finally seeing light in his situation. Removing the mass of brown hair that obscured the face of his victim, he felt his breath stop short and his heart fall to his stomach.

The first thing he saw was a mole on the left side of her jaw. It was so miniscule that one would think a mere stranger wouldn't be able to disseminate it so easily. He felt dread wash over him.

Next thing he noticed was her lips. He knew those lips. He used to always kiss those good morning, goodbye and goodnight, in that order throughout the day, every day for six years, without fail. From what he remembered, those lips were the softest. Almost feather-like when brushed against his own. Unless of course, if the owner was too hard headed and would not listen sound reason and purposely eat something she was allergic to, then those lips would become swollen and puffed out.

The woman's hair was completely out of the way of her face now and Neji traced his eyes to the flip of her lashes, the curve of her button nose, the flush in her high cheek bones back again to those parted lips.

Now, Neji does not curse [then again, Neji Hyuga doesn't usually sleep drive nor does he slam his car at his unsuspecting ex-girlfriends] but in this whole ordeal only one word escaped his lips.

"Fuck."

The clock in the dashboard read 1:18 am.

oOo

 _A/n: I found this on my drive. I'm thinking of revamping it but not in the near future. Good news is, I'm already getting somewhere with "_ _ **The Aversive Stimulus**_ _" but I want to finish it before I post anything (because I'm stuck with ' **heart's song** ' and I'm guilty enough as it is). _

_Thoughts?_


	11. Chapter 11: Let me hold your hand

_A/n: Glad to be posting again! Sadly this isn't new but nonetheless, to those of you who weren't able to participate in NejiTen Month, I'll be sharing my submissions here. This is under week 1 with the prompt: 'Let me hold your hand for a second."_

 _Note; This is set on 'heart's song' universe._

 **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto**

 _ **Summary:**_ One phone call and Tenten rushed her way to the clinic. Nevermind that she was in pj's and that her flip flops were mismatched. Neji needed her and she'll be damned if she let him down.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Tenten-san?"

Tenten blinked in surprise at the formality of the speaker.

"Yes, this is she," she replied, curiosity coating her tone. "Can I help you with something?"

"Your presence is resquested here in the University Health Service Building."

"What? Why? Did Rock Lee get into an accident while training again?" The questions poured out of her mouth before the speaker even had the chance to continue.

Tenten could hear the monotone voice break into a breathy chuckle before they answered, "Well, thankfully no. It's not Rock Lee, altgough I am surprised that this is the same Tenten-san that is being requested."

Tenten tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the speaker to finish their hearty wheezes.

"Well?" She asked, once the other line became silent. "What do you need me for?"

"Hyuga Neji is asking for your presence, and it is best if you come as soon as possible." Click.

"Neji? What?!" She was met by the dial tone.

.

.

.

.

.

"Oh it's that time of the year again," Tenten said with a facepalm, hair in pigtails and wearing an oversized t-shirt and her pyjamas, topped-off with mismatched flip flops.

"Hn," Neji grunted, arms crossed and shoulders tensed as he sat stiffly on one of the nurse's stations.

"How bad was it?" She asked the nurse whose uniform was wrinkled and her black bob-cut in a dissaray.

"He threatened bloody murder if I came so much as two feet close to him," she grumbled sending the bane of her day an exasperated look which was met by a fierce glare.

"We tried to restrain him but he beat up the security personell," she explained further, eyes looking as if they'd burst into tears at any moment, Tenten felt much sympathy for the poor, unfortunate soul.

"An-and then," the nurse stuttered, shoulders trembling, trying not to break down from the stress.

"Hm?" Tenten placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, a mix of pity and compassion moving her, wanting it to make it easier for her.

"I said he can go home and have it another time b-but he won't leave!" The nurse finally broke down crying.

Tenten awkwardly patted the sobbing woman in the back whilst aiming a glare at the Hyuga, who merely frowned.

"It's fine, fine," reassured Tenten, giving what she hoped to be a smile but what really looked like a grimace.

"Tell you what, let's have his shots right here, right now. I promise he wouldn't do anything rash."

The nurse nodded her head and blew her nose on a piece of tissue she produced out of nowhere.

Taking a deep breath, the nurse took with a delicate hand the already-made flu shot, swallowing when Neji tensed, his body stiffening.

Tenten placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

When the needle was about to pierce his flesh,

"Wait," he gritted out through clenched teeth.

"WHAT?" Exclaimed the nurse.

But she was ignored as Neji released a breath, his eyes closed.

He mumbled something that Tenten had to lean close to him in order to hear.

"What was that again?" She asked, voice soft and understanding.

"Just," he breathed out. "Just let me hold your hand for a second."

Tenten rolled her eyes at him but both of them knew it was all for show, even as she offered her hand begrudgingly.

The smile on her face was difficult to hide and she knows that he knows that she was smiling, despite the fact that his eyes were scrunched shut and that he was barely even breathing and that he was holding on to her hand for dear life.

(After what felt like the longest two seconds Neji hissing like an angry cat, they were back in Tenten's room and lounging on her bed, laptop in hand, a bandaid on Neji's arm and ice on Tenten's jaw.)

.

.

"Did you have to jump out of your seat? You headbutted my fucking jaw and it's bruising!"

". . . sorry."

"Aww. Don't look at me like that you big baby, you're going to make me turn into a big puddle of goo."

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 _A/n: Thank you for reading! :) Other stories from NejiTen month would be posted sometime this week or the next. If you want, all my Nejiten Month(July) as well as Tenten Appreciation Week(2nd week of March) fic submissions can be found in my tumblr, also under_ _ **keroribbit**_ _. Just search my blog with the 'my fic/s" tag._


	12. Chapter 12: Alien in my Closet

**Prompt** : Alternate Universe (from week 2), Sexual Tension(ish, one-sided)

T **itle** : Alien in my Closet

 **Warning** : Nudity, not enough for an NSFW tag.

oOo

"H-how—W-what are you doing inside my closet?" he stuttered, clutching the towel on his waist, the only thing that prevented the…person from seeing his thing.

"Is this what this edifice is called, a 'closet'?" The person, from the lightness of the voice, it is a she, asked, oblivious to his predicament.

The person, from what he could observe, bore no clothing (of course that is the first thing his male mind could see), but he could see that her blue scale-like skin was thicker in areas that covered up what is supposed to be her breast and, ahem, vagina.

Horrified by his actions, he quickly averted his eyes from her privates to her face. Her golden eyes twinkled at him, blue antennae wriggling in what appeared to be amusement. His face burn as he gulped, knuckles turning white as he pressed the towel against himself.

"What a peculiar planet that black hole took me to," she said, side-stepping him and exiting the closet, almost squirming when her shoulder brushed his. He was still shocked beyond words.

"Does everyone on this planet bore aesthetically pleasing appearances such as your person?" She asked whilst examining his barren room, from the minimal decorations on the walls to his well-kept bed and then, himself, surprising him.

He then realized that she was expecting an answer from him.

"Yes?" He replied, hesitantly, reaching behind his open closet to fumble for his clothes.

As soon as he felt the hem of one of his cotton shirts and his basketball shorts, he quickly bypassed her, tossed the pile of clothes atop the towel rack and shut the bathroom door behind him. Hands clutching his forehead, and letting the towel fall on a graceless heap on the floor.

"I believe fifty percent of our species also have that elongated appendage between their lower limbs."

Neji's head snapped up and he stood rigidly as the blue skinned alien a few feet away examined his appendage with no sense propriety nor privacy.

"It seems that our species are alike in that matter," she walked towards him so that she could have a closer look.

He wasn't even breathing anymore when she crouched in front him, a thoughtful look in her face.

"But yours is much greater in size," she remarked, looking up to peer at his face whilst she was still crouching down.

Neji stared wide-eyed, bewildered as fuck and he could barely even breathe let alone move his lips to say something. Anything. Good Lord, what the _fuck_ is she _doing_?

"Do you undergo a form of training to fulfill its maximum potential?"

 _God_.

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 _To be continued_


End file.
